Category: Australian News

The ACT Greens today announced that Jo Clay has been elected as their new Leader and Andrew Braddock as Deputy Leader, following a ballot of the party’s membership.

Jo Clay MLA, ACT Greens Leader:

“I’m honoured and grateful to have been elected by our members as the new Leader of the ACT Greens. I don’t take that trust lightly,” said Ms Clay.

“I’d like to acknowledge Rebecca Vassarotti, whom I’m delighted to have back alongside us as our Member for Kurrajong. Rebecca cares deeply about community and democratic collaboration. I look forward to working together with her to deliver progressive outcomes for Canberrans.

“My focus now is firmly on what comes next – because Canberrans deserve better than the status quo.

“As seen in the latest Budget, the Greens fought to scrap the $250 health levy, reinstate the rent relief fund, take climate action, protect our precious wildlife and bushland, and secure stable funding for the community organisations that hold our city together – and we won.

“But there is more to do. Canberrans want a government that will ensure housing is affordable, no one sleeps rough, the climate is protected, and the cost of living doesn’t keep them up at night. And the Greens will keep fighting with everything we have.”

Andrew Braddock MLA, ACT Greens Deputy Leader:

“The ACT Greens are unique in Australia in that our members choose who leads us. I’m incredibly proud that this vote was conducted in an overwhelmingly positive and supportive way. Our members had a choice between two strong, experienced women to lead our party. That speaks volumes about who we are and where we’re headed,” said Mr Braddock.

“I’m excited to stand alongside Jo Clay as Deputy Leader and feel really confident about our party’s future. While the formalities are being announced today, our party room is continuing to work together on bold solutions and make sure no Canberran is left behind.”

The ACT Greens have also confirmed their portfolios for the 11th Assembly:

Jo Clay MLA, ACT Greens Leader and Member for Ginninderra

• Environment
• Planning
• Treasury & Economic Equality
• Circular Economy
• Arts
• Animal Welfare
• Birth

Andrew Braddock MLA, ACT Greens Deputy Leader and Member for Yerrabi

• Transport
• Climate Change
• Democracy
• Integrity and Public Service Transformation
• Municipal Services
• Anti-Racism and Multicultural Affairs
• Emergency Services

Rebecca Vassarotti MLA, Member for Kurrajong

• Housing
• Health and Mental Health
• Justice, Law, Corrections, Policing, Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs
• Gaming Reform
• Ageing and Carers
• Veterans

Laura Nuttall MLA, Member for Brindabella

• Education, Skills and Training
• Young People
• Air and Water
• Food and Agriculture
• Women
• Community Sector
• Disability
• Sport and Recreation
• LGBTIQA+ Affairs
• Whip

“Today the Albanese government voted to keep the widow’s tax breaking yet another promise to the Australian people”, Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson said.

Mr Wilson’s comments come in the wake of Labor and the Greens voting against Coalition amendments in the Senate to repeal the widow’s tax that the Government legislated last week.

“The Treasurer claimed on Insiders on Sunday that the government would “fix” their flaw in the tax legislation, but couldn’t say how, or when, and now they’ve voted in the opposite direction”, Mr Wilson said.

“The Treasurer was deliberately evasive because he never intended to fix his tax hit on grieving Australians”.

“To pass their Budget the Albanese government promised the Parliament and the Australian people they’d fix the widow tax, and today they voted against fixing a problem they caused”.

“Jim Chalmers’ budget has changed so many times, he’s lost track of what he supports and what he doesn’t”.

“Labor and the Greens hatched a dirty deal to push their Budget through and haven’t revealed the details, which raises the question: who is on their tax hit list after widows”?

Anyone concerned about the return of the ISIS brides needs to watch this.

It is very clear that those responsible for our national security have absolutely no idea whether the children of ISIS brides and ISIS fighters are being deradicalised or not. It also turns out that these deradicalisation sessions are voluntary!

What an unbelievable state of affairs. Not only are we allowing ISIS brides and their children back into Australia, but we’re then making very little effort to ensure their deradicalisation. The complacency from this Labor Government is breathtaking.

The Albanese Labor Government’s extension of fuel tax relief has now passed the Parliament, cutting the excise by 16 cents per litre for petrol and diesel for all of July.

We’re delivering more temporary and tapered support that will help take the sting out of petrol prices and help Australians with the cost of living.

This will save Australian motorists around $11 on a 65-litre tank.

The excise cut will continue until 2 August.

We are also cutting the Heavy Vehicle Road User Charge by 16 cents for the same period to help truckies keep Australia moving.

This is about providing more responsible help with the cost of living because we know that while fuel prices have come down, Australians are still under pressure.

This extension of the fuel tax cut recognises there’s still a lot of uncertainty in the Middle East and the global economy more broadly, and our action provides a graduated return to normal settings for the fuel excise.

The additional relief we’re providing means that from 1 July, we’ll have more temporary help with the cost of living with this extension to the fuel tax cut, and more permanent help with the cost of living with another round of tax cuts for every taxpayer.

We thank the states and territories for contributing to the fuel tax cut.

We expect this cut to be passed on in full to motorists at the bowser and won’t accept Australian consumers being treated like mugs.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is continuing to monitor fuel prices, backed by stronger penalties and additional resources for enforcement.

The ACCC has already written to fuel retailers in light of this cut, putting them on notice.

Whether it’s slashing the fuel tax, slashing the road user charge for truckies or tax cuts for every taxpayer, we’re taking action to ease pressure on Australians.

Our economic plan is all about helping Australians with the cost of living, addressing inflation and making our economy more productive and resilient.

The Labor Government continues to hire morally-bankrupt KPMG to run ethics and leadership training for senior public servants despite the ongoing fallout over multiple scandals.

KPMG currently holds a $1.27 million contract to provide training on ethics and leadership for 300 top public servants through the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC). The contract runs until Dec 2026 with the possibility of extension until Dec 2028. 

The Greens are demanding Labor cease the contract immediately and end all ethics and leadership training by KPMG. 

Further, Labor must review all of its 297 active contracts with KPMG worth $653 million to root out and terminate any similar contracts that touch on ethics or leadership, and ban KPMG from all government work until they have been investigated.

Greens finance and public service spokesperson Senator Barbara Pocock:  

“Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, it does. 

“$1.3 million dollars in ethics and leadership training from morally-bankrupt KPMG – you can’t make this stuff up!

“KPMG could run a great class in unethical leadership, how to monetise confidential information, coverups and how to undermine whistleblowers. 

“What exactly has the Government paid for? This is a firm that misused confidential client information to secure more work, misled the parliament and seriously mistreated whistleblowers – among other things.

“Our most senior public sector leaders should not be undertaking any form of training – let alone on ethics and leadership – from a firm that has, by its own admission, breached the most basic ethical values and whose leadership has failed.

“The Government is paying disgraced KPMG for their so-called ‘ethics expertise’ at the same time it is conducting an ‘independent review’ into KPMG’s governance, culture, ethics and integrity frameworks. Is this a joke?

“Labor needs to wake up and listen to the outrage of ordinary Australians.

“The leadership and ethics of KPMG, exemplified by the recent scandals and evidenced by multiple resignations, is precisely the kind of leadership training that we do not need in the public sector.

“Not only did KPMG fail to learn from the awful lessons of the PwC debacle, it sought to present itself as the ethical alternative to secure lucrative contracts – including this one. 

“Labor has rose-coloured glasses for KPMG even when they behave unethically. The Government is completely addicted to KPMG.  

“The Government needs to review all contracts with KPMG and ban dodgy firms from government work. It needs to establish a consultant regulator and increase penalties for egregious behaviour and ethical failures.”

The Minns Labor Government have announced the extension of controversial knife-wanding laws opposed by experts including the Aboriginal Legal Service and the Justice and Equity Centre.

Greens MP and spokesperson for justice Sue Higginson said “The Minns Labor Government’s invasive police powers have done nothing to curb knife crime and there is no evidence-based case for their expansion,

“What these powers have done is compounded overpolicing of First Nations people, and they have been used to make life harder for the people attending, and the organisers of, religious festivals, significant cultural events and peaceful protests,

“The Minns Labor Government always marketed their knife wanding laws as a temporary trial after the Bondi Junction tragedy, and their trial has not made any material difference in reducing crime,

“BOCSAR data shows assault incidents involving knives are decreasing at a slower rate since the introduction of these laws than in the ten years prior, and the number of persons proceeded against for knife robbery has actually increased,

“Just because police have a drawer full of knives, does not mean these laws have had any meaningful effect on knife crime, but they have had a profoundly negative impact on civil liberties,

“Giving police more and more powers and diminishing civil liberties is not the way to keep communities safe. When police are given more powers like these they must be subject to oversight of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission and safeguards around their use must be enshrined in the law,” Ms Higginson said.

Australians in jobs is always a good thing, but the fact remains that Australians are working harder but going backwards under Labor. 

While the government boasts about creating 1.25 million new jobs, this has simply kept up with population growth. The population to employment ratio has remained steady since Labor came to office. 

The fact is that 119,000 more Australians are out of work today since Labor came to power. 

Young Australians are bearing the brunt. Youth unemployment is more than twice the national rate at 10.4% and there are 62,400 more young Australians unemployed now than when the Coalition office. 

Almost 267,000 young Australians are now looking for work and coming up empty. That’s 30,000 more than a year ago, and the number has climbed every single month since.

Nearly 1 million Australians are working multiple jobs trying to make ends meet, including a record number of women and young Australians. 

Shadow Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations Senator Jane Hume said Australians are working harder but finding it harder to get ahead. 

“Australians are living the consequences of Labor’s economic mismanagement and the tax changes they’re ramming through the Parliament are only going to make the situation worse. 

“Young Australians are being hit in every direction. They’re paying more for rent, struggling to buy a home and now facing a weaker job market. 

“Almost a million Australians are now working multiple jobs, including record numbers of women and young Australians, while job loss anxiety is at levels we haven’t seen since the pandemic. That’s not the mark of a strong economy. It’s the consequence of Labor’s economic failure,” Senator Hume said. 

Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson said, “Labor’s Budget has shattered confidence in the economy, and now they’re fuelling inflation by growing the number of jobs funded directly and indirectly from public spending”.

“Over half of all new jobs since Labor came to power are funded directly and indirectly by public spending which is fuelling inflation because they cannot give confidence to investment to build the private economy. Labor are managing Australia’s decline not giving Australians hope”, Mr Wilson said.

The last thing Anthony ‘The Liar’ Albanese needs is another divisive debate on Indigenous relations, but if his corrupt union boss mates have their way, the push for a racist voice in Parliament won’t be going away.

After the flush of victory at the 2022 Federal election Albo burnt a lot of his early political capital with his personal legacy project, also known as the Voice to Parliament referendum.

We all know the story. Far-left extremists tried to insert their neo-Marxist identity politics into our nation’s founding document, the Australian Constitution, and they found a useful idiot in Albanese to help them. He saw it as an opportunity to go down in history as the man who delivered it.

There was just one problem: you can’t change the Constitution at a whim. You need the permission of the Australian people, and a big majority of us ultimately said no despite a well-funded ‘yes’ campaign supported by the government and big corporations keen to show their progressive credentials.

Albo walked away from the bruising result, pretending it was no big deal. The activists wailed incessantly, so confident were they at the beginning we would all just fall into line. They believed they were entitled to what they wanted and blamed everyone but themselves when they failed to get it. They even blamed Albo.

The Prime Minister may have moved on from his spectacular failure, but not the Australian Council of Trade Unions – the peak body for the union movement, of which the Australian Labor Party is merely the political arm. The ACTU has made a submission to a Parliamentary inquiry calling for yet another national representative body for Indigenous Australians “…whether a constitutionally enshrined voice, a legislated advisory body, or a treaty-negotiating assembly.”

The ACTU also wants to move Australia Day from 26 January, where most Australians want it to stay.

How many times does it need to be said? Labor and its union boss mates don’t care that most Australians rejected the voice to Parliament and don’t care that most Australians want their national day on 26 January. Their contempt for our democratic views is plain for all to see.

Evidently this fight isn’t finished. One Nation played a decisive role as part of the campaign which defeated the Voice, and with our new strength, we’re more than ready to step up and defend equal rights for all Australians again.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will welcome Prime Minister of Vanuatu the Hon Jotham Napat to Australia on Monday, 29 June 2026.

This will be Prime Minister Napat’s first official visit to Australia since taking office, and the second time the leaders have met.

This visit will reaffirm Australia and Vanuatu’s commitment to elevate our bilateral relationship.

Prime Minister Albanese will host Prime Minister Napat and his delegation at Parliament House to discuss continued economic, security and development cooperation.

Prime Minister Albanese:

“I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Napat to Australia to discuss ways to further expand our bilateral relationship.

“Australia and Vanuatu share a deep and enduring partnership based on mutual respect and common values.

“Strengthening our ties with Vanuatu is central to our shared ambition for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Pacific region.”

The Albanese Government is doubling down on platforms that are not doing enough to keep under 16s off social media.

The Government will strengthen the eSafety Commissioner’s information-gathering powers with new legislation and will double the maximum penalty for breaches of the social media minimum age law to $99 million.

Australian parents have led this global movement and we back them to keep our kids safe.

Social media companies have a social responsibility, and they must uphold their legal responsibility in Australia to keep under 16s off social media.

We have already seen more than 5 million under-16s accounts removed, deactivated or restricted since the ban began on December 10. 

However, it is clear that eSafety needs more tools in their belt to take on these billion-dollar social media companies and hold them to account

The new laws will mean the eSafety Commissioner, as the independent regulator, can compel social media companies to provide evidence of what they have done to stop under 16s from getting an account. The enhanced powers will give the Commissioner stronger enforcement and compliance tools and more powers to hold big tech accountable.

The changes will make it easier for eSafety to gather evidence by empowering the independent regulator to demand information and documents, to ensure companies are complying with Australian law.

Importantly this includes information from third parties, such as age assurance or app-store providers, which may assist in validating or testing claims made by platforms.

These changes will provide the Commissioner with more detailed information on what platforms are doing – or not doing – to comply with the social media minimum age law, supporting more effective investigation and potential enforcement action.

The penalty for failing to comply with the information-gathering notices from the Commissioner will also be doubled.

Increasing the penalty for systematic breaches from $49.5 million to $99 million brings it in line with penalties available under competition and consumer law.

eSafety is actively investigating potential non-compliance in relation to five platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube.  

Australia’s landmark social media reform to protect young people online has started a global movement with countries across the world following Australia’s lead.

the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese:

“Australia is leading the world in our efforts to keep kids and young people safe online.

“I’m heartened by the shift in conversation and the global momentum we’ve seen since introducing the social media minimum age, but it’s clear big tech are not doing enough to comply with the law – there are still too many children on social media.

“These changes reflect the seriousness with which we take any failure by social media companies to comply with our world-leading law.”

Minister for Communications Anika Wells:

“Six months into our world-leading social media law, I am not satisfied that tech companies are doing everything they can to keep under-16s off their platforms.

“Based on the regular updates I receive from the eSafety Commissioner, it is clear to me that social media platforms are adopting tricks straight out of the big tech playbook and doing the bare minimum to get by.

“In response, I am making sure the regulator has stronger tools to get the job done and doubling the fines for non-compliance.

“Social media platforms are some of the richest and most powerful companies in the world, and we’re serious about holding them to account.

“These tough new penalties and powers show we will not back down. Instead, we are doubling down on our efforts to hold big tech to account.”